


When You Return

by ParkeRose



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Rain, Sadness, They're on different teams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28150326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParkeRose/pseuds/ParkeRose
Summary: “Is the chocolate for me?” Neil mumbled.“You don’t want the chocolate”, Andrew replied, because he knew Neil wouldn’t want it.“Is the peanut butter for me?”, Neil asked, next. Andrew pinched his shoulder.“Yes. Wear the gloves.”---Andrew flies in to meet Neil.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 10
Kudos: 131





	When You Return

Neil didn’t like to think too much. 

If he were to say that aloud he was sure there were many who would agree whole-heartedly, Andrew most of all. He didn’t like to think too much because it weighed him down, it sent him spiralling into paranoia and even on good days, such as this one had been, it left a heavy feeling in his chest. 

But it was so unbearably quiet in the apartment. He kept looking sideways as if he would see Andrew there but Andrew was far from him now. In his own apartment. Probably sleeping. Hopefully sleeping, Neil thought. 

It took all his strength not to take his phone and call him right then. The clock on the wall was loud, the weight of the blanket not heavy enough. He felt restless. 

Standing up, he walked to the cupboard and pulled out a hoodie. It was Andrew’s and the sight of it didn’t help the absence around him. He tugged it on in silence, pacing the length of his room. It was a mess, clothes strewn across the floor, coffee mugs resting in odd locations, Matt’s guitar which he’d forgotten to take with him. It wasn’t just Andrew, he missed them all. He wondered now that he had graduated if they would be able to meet together again. He didn’t even feel like going for a run; it was too cold and his legs ached. 

His phone buzzed on the nightstand and he reached for it hastily. 

It was a video of Matt and Dan with their new puppy. Neil smiled at his phone screen watching the dog slobber over Matt’s face followed by Dan’s carefree laughter. 

_ Andrew,  _ he thought, for seemingly no reason and forwarded him the message on instinct. 

He replied to Matt and switched off his phone again, lest he give in and call Andrew anyway. 

His leg was bouncing up and down and his mind felt empty and full at the same time. It was because of the unending silence that he was able to hear the first sounds of rainfall. He rushed to his window and saw, in the dim streetlight, steadily falling drops. It grew faster the longer he looked and he sighed, rather miserably. 

There was no distraction to stop him from thinking it so he let himself remember. 

When he’d been twelve, his mother had been looking for a place for them to stay. It wasn’t often that they stayed inside motels but rainy days were sometimes exceptions. That evening, the rain fell hard and they had been nowhere near a motel. So he’d curled up into a ball in a shady alley, his own hoodie and his mother’s draped over him. It hadn’t helped.

He remembered how unbearably cold it had been.

He drew the curtains to resist the urge to walk outside, some odd sense of nostalgia rising inside of him. He remembered how sick he had been, how paranoid his mother had been as if every sneeze would alert someone within a hundred mile radius. He’d taught himself to quiet down his sneezes. 

There was no reason for him to feel so alone, he knew that. There would be conversations tomorrow, things to do and things to say but now. Now, he was sitting quietly on a bed wondering what his mother would think if she saw him here. It was difficult not to think of her sometimes. He turned his head and his eyes landed on Andrew’s watch on the side table.

He knew Andrew left things behind on purpose. He also knew Andrew would never admit it, that it was a false excuse to keep coming back. It  _ had  _ been years now, Andrew couldn’t fool him anymore. 

He heard the sound of the front door opening. He turned his face to the bedroom door and stood, heart shaking, knowing only one other person had his apartment key. Grabbing a towel on his way out he tried not to run.

Andrew stood there wrestling with his umbrella. There was a shopper next to him, Neil could guess what was in it. Andrew was always buying something for him or Betsy or Renee. Sometimes even for Kevin or Aaron. It was as though he hated meeting someone empty handed. 

Neil walked towards him and draped the towel over Andrew’s head in greeting, covering his entire face. He smiled at the image, and something in him settled. He could breathe a little easier, maybe. His face didn’t feel so stiff, his heart wasn’t thundering. Something akin to happiness overflowed and he let it, far be it from him to control the feeling. 

Andrew shook his head free of the towel and narrowed his eyes at Neil, throwing it back at his face. Neil grinned. Andrew began to move past him but Neil grabbed his hand before he could pass. It wasn’t enough to stop Andrew though, so Neil got dragged along with him. 

“What did you get me?” he asked. 

Andrew turned on the kitchen light and kept the shopper on the counter. Moving as if on autopilot Andrew turned on the coffeemaker and took out two mugs. 

“See for yourself”, Andrew replied, his voice low. 

Neil’s eyes widened a fraction. Andrew looked more than tired. “You didn’t drive here, did you?” 

Andrew shook his head and kept moving. He’d taken the plane despite the inconvenience. Neil knew Andrew couldn’t stay for long either way but he selfishly repressed the guilt. He was just glad Andrew was here. He peeked into the shopper. It was a pair of gloves, peanut butter and a few bars of chocolate. He knew the gloves were for him and his incessant complaints of cold hands but he ignored them in favour of walking up to Andrew with his hands up. 

“Wear the gloves”, Andrew said, cleaning up the mess on Neil’s counter for no reason. Neil knew Andrew was fidgety because of the plane ride. Shaking his head, Neil walked up behind Andrew and blocked Andrew’s view of the counter with his hands. Instinctively, Andrew reached up and took Neil’s hands in his own before turning around. 

“Why are you always so frozen?” Andrew asked.

“It’s cold”, Neil replied. Andrew slipped his fingers through Neil’s and let their hands rest against his thigh. They gazed at each other for a minute or more, before Neil moved forward and pressed their foreheads together. Andrew kissed him once. Twice. 

Neil dropped his head to Andrew’s shoulder and breathed in. Andrew raised his arm and wrapped it over Neil’s shoulder, encasing him in the warmth of his presence. 

“Is the chocolate for me?” Neil mumbled.

“You don’t want the chocolate”, Andrew replied, because he knew Neil wouldn’t want it. 

“Is the peanut butter for me?”, Neil asked, next. Andrew pinched his shoulder. 

“Yes. Wear the gloves.” 

Neil raised their hands and pressed a kiss to the back of Andrew’s. “Sorry, my hands are busy.” 

Andrew moved away after a minute to make them coffee. Handing Neil his cup he jumped up on the counter and tugged Neil’s - his own - hoodie until Neil was closer. Neil leaned back against him, more than content. 

The apartment was quiet again but this time Neil wasn’t alone in it. He was gazing at the ceiling lost in his thoughts when Andrew said, “You don’t like the rain.”

Neil blinked, trying to clear his head. “No”, he said. “I don’t.”

Andrew waited for him to elaborate. “It’s very cold. I don’t like the cold”, was all Neil said. 

Andrew kissed his shoulder, the gesture familiar and commonplace. Neil leaned his head sideways, bumping it against Andrew’s and let it rest there. 

“Do you like the rain?” Andrew thought about it. 

“Only a little”, he said, eventually. Neil felt so comfortable in Andrew’s arms it surprised him. For some odd reason, it still managed to shock him how unafraid he was when Andrew was beside him. And since he had been remembering her all night, he couldn’t help but wonder what his mother would think of Andrew. Inexplicably, he began to laugh. 

He didn’t have a loud laugh, it was more obvious in his shaking shoulders. 

Andrew poked his cheek. “What is it?”

Neil grinned. “My mother would hate you.” 

“Good”, Andrew replied, which made Neil laugh more for some reason. He was still shaking off his own dreadful image of his mother encountering Andrew when Andrew said, “Mine wouldn’t like you very much either.” 

Neil moved to hide his face in Andrew’s neck, trying and failing to smother his laughter. Neil was still holding his coffee mug so Andrew pried it away from his fingers and took Neil’s hands again. He rested his chin on Neil’s shoulder and Neil leaned their heads together again. 

“Hey”, Neil said, unable to repress his sudden urge. Maybe it was the weather, maybe he just felt like it. Andrew hummed in question. 

“How many chocolate bars did you get?”

“Five.”

“Give me two.”

“No.”

“Three.”

“Never.”

“You can take half the peanut butter.”

“I would have done that anyway.”

“I’m taking all the chocolate, then”, Neil said. Andrew wrapped his arms around Neil to hold him in place. Neil smiled as he felt Andrew shake his head and wrapped his own arms over Andrew’s. Outside, the rain grew stronger. 

“Two bars and you give me the black hoodie back.”

Neil stuck his tongue out before saying, “Deal. I stole that hoodie from you, anyway.”

“I know”, Andrew said, quietly. 

Neil didn’t feel so very cold, anymore. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Y'all my hands are so fucking cold.   
> [ Tumblr ](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kevindavidday)


End file.
